Tantra aiming for bigger retail spread in India and beyond

With the launch of an exclusive store in Goa, the New Year has started on a positive note for T-shirt brand Tantra. The Goa store opening was quickly followed by Tantra Chennai at Phoenix City Mall, a store in New Delhi’s Janpath, Kanpur’s

Z Square Mall and the upcoming one at Rourkela. Elaborating on the company’s plans for the brand, Ranjiv Ramchandani, Director, Tantra says, “Goa offers the ideal customer base to experiment and expand on free spirited bohemian prints and ideas. Regular merchandise gives way to edgy work, supported by an appreciative customer base which comes from all over the world.” On the product development front, the company has added a brand new T-shirt label (Black Market Tees) to its stable of brands. The purpose is to create an exclusive range of cutting-edge tees in black colour.

“We are also working on two new products/accessories, to be marketed under its label, for distribution across India. The next 365 days are going to be dedicated to the pursuit of opening own and franchisee outlets, capitalizing on the brand’s positive energy and easy recall, reaching out via online and off-line to Tier II and Tier III cities of India, and possibly outside India,” explains Ramchandani.

Tantra has been a pioneering brand and remains so, T-shirt innovation and labels. Its retail network consists of MBOs, EBOs, LFS and online sales. It has over 45 EBOs which are a mix of company owned and franchisees. As Ramchandani, explains “Tantra is about the overall experience. Our main thrust will be towards replicating this via offline and online experience all over India and abroad. We are exporting to 5-8 countries and our dream is to sell our brand in the West through our EBOs. We also have an e-platform and retail via portals like Jabong, Flipkart, Myntra and others.”

Over the last year, Tantra has added two new T-shirt brands under its umbrella of labels titled ‘Loose Motions’ and ‘Black Market’. The company has introduced polos and polo piques. Tantra introduces two collections every year, each consisting of approximately 150-200 options for guys’, girls’ and kids’ categories. “The brand’s S/S’13 collections has something for everyone, which is omni-target of the brand. Perennial themes like humour and spirituality coexist with topical and patriotic themes,” Ramchandani sums up.